JOHN KEEL NOT AN AUTHORITY ON ANYTHING

Bormujos I’ve been posting this correspondence between John and Lynn Catoe because of the interactions with other ufologists and with Ivan Sanderson, and for John’s immediate reaction to the collapse of the Silver Bridge. They started dating in the midst of all this, which is none of our business. We’re getting to that point: after the last letter, Ms. Catoe wrote John a 7-page hand-written epic, which is mostly concerned with describing herself and her apartment, inviting John for dinner, and discussing the menu. I’ll just quote a couple of sentences to amuse long-term John-watchers: “I saw you on the Today show and was surprised that you were reasonably articulate. Since you’re bearded, I’d written you off as a hippie.”

John accepts the invitation, and fills her in on some of his interactions with Sanderson. He also reveals that he was asked to write an article for the National Enquirer, which he predicts will cause Sanderson to “flip further out.” Gordon Evans, as mentioned earlier in these letters, was a ufologist who had withdrawn suddenly from the field.

John writes to Ivan Sanderson, trying to clear up the misunderstanding between him and Lynn Catoe. He’s exasperated at being caught in the middle of this “childish bullshit,” and is worried he’ll lose the friendship of both of them. Eventually, he did straighten things out, and both of them were grateful for his efforts. Ufology in the ’60s was obviously fraught with drama!

John responds to Lynn Catoe, obviously exasperated with the “absurd uproar” between her and Ivan Sanderson, and upset with her reaction to Sanderson. He’s none too happy with the “screwy business” of ufology either. And who can blame him?

Ms. Catoe opens her letter to John by saying she feels “spat upon.” I assume she means by Ivan Sanderson, since the rest of the letter is certainly friendly to John. I don’t know who “Dr. Clark” is; perhaps some reader more versed in ufological history can identify him. Uninvited Visitors is by Ivan Sanderson (I recommend the hardback edition, since it has a nice little lenticular picture on the cover).

John writes Lynn Catoe, apparently after a phone conversation. She and Ivan Sanderson are now angry at each other over the proposed article in the National Enquirer, and “poor John Keel is in the middle.” The article apparently followed a convention in Wiesbaden, and John speculates that Dr. Frank Stranges or another attendee may have talked to a reporter. He dismisses Ms. Catoe’s idea that Sanderson was simply doing this for publicity, and reminds her that Sanderson is in “a most distraught condition.” He warns her that UFO buffs are a “rather sad group of misfits and maniacs,” and suggests they “get together and do some serious drinking.”

Ivan Sanderson writes Lynn Catoe, alarmed about that proposed story in the National Enquirer. The paper claimed that Ms. Catoe had given a press conference in Germany, announcing Keel’s and Sanderson’s retirements from ufology. None of it was true, but Sanderson is bewildered by the accuracy of some of the details about Ms. Catoe’s troubles on one of her visits to his farm.

Later, the plot thickens. Ivan Sanderson is upset: the National Enquirer plans to publish a story claiming that Lynn Catoe gave a press conference, announcing that Keel and Sanderson were quitting ufology because they were threatened by the Men In Black. More complications will ensue…

John responds to Ms. Catoe’s last letter with quite a letter of his own. He writes the day after the collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, and is clearly still shaken. (The bridge fell on the 15th, but the letter is dated the 17th, so he must have the date wrong.) He also answers Ms. Catoe’s remarks about his “grave manner” with some notes on comedy writing, reports on UFOs and animal mutilations in Point Pleasant, and gives more details about his research and his “underground of local allies.” He is also cautious about Isabel Davis, and reveals that he too is a fan of Georges Méliès.

He wrote the letter in two parts, so I’ll post it in two parts.

Lynn Catoe writes back with a letter taking John to task for some of his methodology and confirmation bias, most pointedly in a postscript quoting occult historian Maurice Bessy. She also fills him in on her background and interests, mentions a visit with Isabel Davis, of the UFO group Civilian Saucer Intelligence, and deplores the infighting among UFO buffs.

Ivan and Alma are Ivan and Alma Sanderson; Sue Brown was Sanderson’s personal assistant at the time; Stewart Nixon was a member of NICAP.

John Keel would have been 90 today. Here he is as a boy, proudly holding his Charlie McCarthy doll. According to the inscription on the back, the photo was taken on Cedar St. in Hornell, NY, and the two girls are Landy and Carolyn. I don’t know who they are.

Stay safe during the pandemic! Stay at home and read some Keel books!